^ 



i/iy tA/U'';-\A\.- 



^e @lumbian HnioeFsit^, 



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V. 



jftV 






^^rDrDP^EUSSHiS 



IN MEMORY OF 



Prof. Edward T. Fristoe, LL. D 



DECE^MBER 16, 1892. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
PUBLISHED BY THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. 






BIOGRAPHIC AIv SKIKTCH 

EDWARD T. FRISTOE. 



Edward T. Fristoe was born in Rappahannock 
County, Virginia, December i6th, 1827; son of Joseph 
and Martha Fristoe. Received his early training 
at old time country schools in the neighborhood 
of his home. At the age of seventeen years, he 
entered Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, 
Virginia, from which he graduated in 1849, with 
the highest honors. For two years was principal 
of an academy at Surrey Courthouse, Virginia. In 
1852 entered the University of Virginia, from which 
he graduated in three years, receiving the degree of 
A. M. in 1855. He excelled especially in mathematics 
and natural sciences. At the University he had the 
respect and esteem of professors and students, and was 
looked up to as a leader among the students. In 1855, 
while still a student, he was elected to the chair of 
mathematics in the Columbian College of Washington, 
D. C, which position he held with great acceptance 
until i860, when he resigned to accept the chair of 
mathematics and astronomy in the State University of 
Missouri. 

He entered the confederate army in 1862 as Adjutant 
General of the army of South Missouri, was made ma- 
jor in 1863, and soon after appointed colonel of cavalry. 
In 1864 he was with General Price in his march from 
the Arkansas to the Missouri River. He is spoken of 



as having been a gallant soldier ; conspicuous alike for 
his courage and discretion. After the close of the war 
in 1865, he was elected to the chair of chemistry in the 
Columbian College, and in 1 871, to chair of chemistry 
in the Medical Department of the Columbian Univer- 
sity ; 1872, lecturer on chemistry in the National Col- 
lege of Pharmacy, District of Columbia; 1872, also 
the degree of LL. D., from the Wm. Jewell College of 
Missouri, was conferred on him; 1874, Phar. D., from 
the National College of Pharmacy, District of Colum- 
bia; 1884, Professor of General and Analytical Chem- 
istry of the Corcoran Scientific School, and Dean of 
the F'aculty. At the time of his death, he was Profes- 
sor of Chemistry in Medical Department, Professor of 
Chemistry and Physics in Corcoran Scientific School, 
and Dean of Faculty of latter. 



ADD RKSS 



OF 



|^iTsider)t Jaix)es C' ^eUii)|, LL. D 



Ivord Byron, in what is perhaps the best, as well as 
the best known, of his poems has likened man to a 
"pendulum betwixt a smile and tear." It is certain 
that the mortal life of our lamented friend, the late 
Professor Fristoe, if gauged from the point of time 
when it iirst came within my ken, till the day when 
it faded into the life eternal, may be literally said to 
have vibrated between these two forms of emotional 
expression. 

I met him for the first time at his bridal, where, as 
was meet on a wedding day, smiles of joy wreathed the 
faces of the many friends who came to rejoice with 
him on that day of his rejoicing. From that day on- 
ward, it was my good fortune to enjoy his personal ac- 
quaintance, down to the da}^ when his life so suddenly 
went out, amid the tears of the friends who were called 
to follow his remains to the house appointed for all the 
living. 

But if his life, so far as it came under my observa- 
tion, may be said, in a certain sense, to have oscillated 
betwixt smiles and tears, it would be a great mistake 
to suppose that his long and useful career moved in the 
sphere of the emotions alone. Not enjoyment, and not 
sorrow is our destined end or way, as one of our own 
poets has said. We all can say, with entire assurance, 



that Professor Fristoe did not set tlie psalm of his life 
to any emotional key-note, vivid as were his sensibili- 
ties. If at any time he may have dreamed that Life 
was Beauty he showed by all his waking activities 
that Life for him was Duty. 

If at any time he may have been tempted to indulge 
in despondency, we may aver, with entire confidence, 
that he never yielded to the temptation, and so it came 
to pass that he led before us all a life that was full of 
the most unintermitting labors as well as the warmest 
aftections. 

I say that the warmest affections as well as the most 
unintermitting labors were blended in his life and his 
career. The philosophical poet of England has taught 
us that we must find in the primal affections of our 
nature, "The fountain light of all our day, the master 
ight of all our seeing.'' Long before Wordsworth had 
given a poetical expression to this truth, King Solomon 
had said, as the induction of a wisdom condensed into 
proverbial form, that **as a man thinketh in his heart, 
so is he;" and a greater than Solomon has said that it 
is "out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth 
speaketh." 

It is not for me, as the presiding officer of this me- 
morial meeting, to enumerate, still less to classify and 
appreciate, the virtues which shed their fragrance along 
the path in life of our friend and colleague. In so 
doing I should commit an indecorum, as seeming to 
anticipate what will be better said by those who are to 
follow me. But if I were called to sum up, in a sin- 
gle trait, the most characteristic of his endowments 
on the side of the affections, I should find it in the 
strong human kindness which come to habitual expres- 
sion in all his acts, and in all his words. And hence 
it was but natural that this human kindness never 



failed to meet return from the friends who were bound 
to him by hooks of steel. All the generosities of social 
life found a congenial home in his benignant bosom. 
On the side of his activities in this University, you 
all know how superabundant he was in his arduous 
labors. If Prospero in his cell could say that for him 
his "library was a dukedom large enough," it may be 
said with truth of Professor P^ristoe, that he found his 
"dukedom'' in the precints of the chemical laboratory, 
and in the Lecture Hall where listening students 
caught words of learning from his lips. And not in 
chemistry alone, but in the whole circle of the physical 
sciences, he had been a diligent student, and hence it 
is that so many, in all parts of the land, are ready to 
rise up and join with us to-day in invoking a blessing 
on his memory. 



8 



ADDRESS 

Rev. a. J. Huntington, D. D. 



It is no easy matter to analyze the motives which 
impel us to pay our tributes of respect to the dead. 

Cicero refers to the duties which the Romans were 
so careful to perform for the dead, as a proof that they 
believed that the soul was immortal, and that it was 
interested in these tokens of regard from the living. 
And it is possible that, even in Christian lands, a belief 
of this kind, that our deceased friends are in some way 
acquainted with the rites which we perform in memory 
of them, and that they are gratified by them, though 
such a belief is not well defined, and though but few, 
comparatively, are even conscious of entertaining it, 
may, nevertheless, often-times have something to do 
with the honors which are bestowed upon the dead. 

But it is probable that men generally pay them these 
tributes of respect from the mere instinct of love, which 
is too strong to remain silent and inoperative within 
them, but constrains them in this way to give expres- 
sion to it. 

Or, feeling that our departed friends are still entitled 
to all the regard we can show them, we may, in order 
to satisfy our conscience and the claims of justice, render 
them these attentions. 

And, still further, we are incited to offer these tributes 
of affection by the conviction that it is for the good of 
society to cherish the remembrance of the departed, 
and to hold up their characters for the imitation of the 
living, and especially of the young, and thus to incite 



them to strive for the attainment of those excellences 
which make men honored in life, and lamented in 
death. 

Now whether is is from motives like these, or from 
other motives still, that we have come to-day to these 
memorial services, of this, at least, we are sure, that we 
are here with one accord for the purpose of showing the 
esteem and love which we cherished for a noble man 
while he was with us, and the veneration in which we 
still hold his name. And we are gathered here also to 
thank God for giving us such a blessing, and continuing 
it to us so long. 

Allow me, then, to refer to some of those traits in the 
character of Professor Fristoe which, during an intimate 
acquaintance of moie than thirty years, seemed to me 
especially worthy of admiration. 

And, to speak first of Jus intellectual qualities, it is 
hardly necessary to say to those who knew him well, 
that his natural gifts were of no common order. His 
mind was strong and well balanced, not so remarkable, 
perhaps, lor the predominance of anyone of its faculties 
as for their general development. He was quick and 
clear in his perceptions; vigorous in his reasoning 
powers; and eminently sound in judgment. And few 
men were more strongly characterized by a practical 
turn of mind. The faculty of the college found in him 
a wise counsellor. In all the matters which pertained 
to the arrangement of the courses of college study, and 
to their proper adjustment to one another, and espec- 
ially in the establishment of the Corcoran School, his 
power of organization was clearly seen and gratefully 
acknowledged' by his colleagues. Of the Corcoran 
School he was, from its beginning, the efficient and 
honored Dean. But not only as a college faculty, but 
as individuals, in our private affairs, we, as well as 



10 

many others, found him an intelligent, discreet, and 
safe adviser. 

Of his ability as a scholar and a. professor, first of 
Mathematics, and afterwards of Natural Science, it is 
not too much to say that the intelligent pupils, who, for 
a period of thirty-two years, class after class, listened 
to his instructions, and the men of science who were 
brought into contact with him, ever regarded him as a 
thorough master and skillful expounder of the subjects 
which he taught. 

He wrote indeed no books connected with his 
branches of study ; but we may believe that the prin- 
cipal reasons of this were, on the one hand, that he did 
not care to go over the ground which many authors in 
these departments had already travelled; and, on the 
other hand, that, after the exhausting labors to which 
he was daily subjected in the lecture room, and in pre- 
paring himself to impart to his students the greatest 
possible benefit, he felt that he had not nervous energy 
enough, and leisure enough, to enable him to press be- 
yond the boundaries which others had reached, and to 
conquer new territory for the domain of knowledge. 

And what shall we say of those moral qualities of Pro- 
fessor Fristoe w^hich were so striking and attractive as 
to make us sometimes almost lose sight of his rich in- 
tellectual endowments. 

The foundation of this lofty moral character was the 
purity of his principles. His heart was right. His 
great aim was to discharge his duty to God and man. 
No one who knew him well probably ever suspected 
that the principles which controlled that great heart 
were evil. We all felt that the springs of action in that 
noble life could not be wrong. 

And, first, we may say that he was the very model of 
sincerity and truthfulness. He was a man without guile. 



II 

Whoever else was chargeable with duplicity, he was 
simple and straightforward. No one distrusted him , or 
feared that some evil purpose lurked in his soul. The 
faculty and students of the college, and all who knew 
him, were convinced that what he said, he meant; that 
what he professed, he believed and felt. And this can- 
dor, integrity, and uprightness, he practised through 
life, and thus proved that he was worthy of this uni- 
versal confidence which was reposed in him. He lived 
and died "an honest man, — the noblest work of God." 

And, in this connection, we may mention his con- 
scientiousness and faitJif Illness in the discharge of duty. 
In the long and honored roll of professors in our 
American colleges, it would be difficult to find any who 
have given themselves more completely to the work to 
which they have been appointed, or who have been 
more devoted to the interests of the institutions which 
they have served, and to the welfare of the students 
committed to their charge; who, in a word, have been 
more punctual, and careful, and diligent, in the dis- 
charge of their j^arious duties as college officers, than 
Professor Fristoe. 

Nor was he less remarkable for his energy and per- 
severance. These high qualities, not only character- 
ized him in youth when he was in pursuit, without 
adequate pecuniary means, of an academic education, 
first, at the Virginia Military Institute, and afterwards, 
at the University of Virginia, from which he gained 
the honor of the Master's degree, but also distin- 
guished him in his whole career as a scholar and a col- 
lege proffessor. 

But all who are familiar with his life would say that 
his unselfish disposition was worthy of special mention. 
His motto seemed to be, **No manliveth unto himself." 
He claimed nothing for himself which did not belong 



12 

to him ; and even what was his own he often resigned 
to others. As a member of the college faculty, he 
never sought to lay heavier burdens on others than he 
was willing to bear himself. He shirked no duty ; he 
shunned no responsibility. Now it was this disposi- 
tion to look not on his own things, but also on the 
things of others, — ''to love himself last," — that gave 
his character much of its nobility, and gained for him 
much of that esteeai, and love, and admiration, in 
which he was held. Men like him who can sink the 
considerations of self in a regard for others, become, 
when great occasions require, the true heroes and bene- 
factors of the world. They are the men who in a 
worthy cause are ready, at the summons of their coun- 
try, to imperil their lives on the high places of the 
field ; or who, at the call of God, for the sake of miti- 
gating human woe and for the salvation of their race, 
hesitate not to leave the luxuries and refinements of 
civilized life behind, and to go to distant and savage 
shores to unfurl the banner of the Cross. 

And allied to this unselfish disposition he had a kind 
and generous nature. His conduct towards his col- 
leagues was eminently friendly and courteous. It 
seemed to be free from envy and jealousy, and to be 
pervaded by a feeling of genuine good-will. Of the 
kindliness of the words which marked his intercourse 
with us, we might, each of us well say in the language 
which the Roman orator represents Laelius as using 
of his friend Scipio. Africanus The Younger, a little 
while after his death: 'T never heard anything from 
him which I was sorry to hear." 

The students also found in him a kind and sympa- 
thetic friend. They had such confidence in the good- 
ness of his heart, as well as in the wisdom of his coun- 
sels, that they went freely to him in their perplexities 



13 

and troubles, and received from him the advice and en- 
couragement which they needed. And we believe 
that a college officer has rarely been more highly ap- 
preciated and respected, and more sincerely loved, than 
Professor Fristoe by the successive classes of the Col- 
umbian College. 

Nor was his kindly disposition shown to those alone 
with whom he was most intimately associated. His 
genial nature inclined him, as far as his pressing 
duties permitted, to social intercourse, and especially 
fitted him for it. His kind and sympathetic heart, 
the naturalness, simplicity, and cordiality, of his man- 
ners, and the vivacity, mingled oftentimes with the 
pleasantry of his conversation, made him welcome in 
every house and in every social circle which he visited. 
His presence, like the sudden shining of the sun into 
our dwellings, diffused cheerfulness and delight. His 
coming was a signal for social enjoyment. How sadly 
in our families, and in our social gatherings, within 
the last few months, has that benevolent and radiant 
face, that warm grasp of the hand, and that glad voice, 
been missed ! 

And here I might refer to his generosity towards 
either individuals or charitable and religious objects 
that needed his aid. Although he was sparing in his 
expenditures for his own gratification, yet he dispensed 
to those purposes which he regarded as worthy of his 
benefactions, with even a more liberal hand than most 
men would have thought that his means justified. He 
gave away what others would have laid up for future 
need. 

Such were some, and only some, of the admirable 
traits which distinguished the character of him whose 
departure from us we deplore. We sorrow not as 
though one standing on the common level of humanity 



14 

iiad gone from us, but we feel that a very prince has 
fallen. 

But we rejoice that ''being dead he yet speeketh." 
His words are still in our ears and in our hearts, and 
there they will long abide. His actions are before our 
eyes, and will still guide us to a better life. The 
young who listened to his teachings, or only knew him, 
as they look at his career, will see what a man of good 
native intellect and strong common sense, with honesty, 
industry, energy, self-denial, and kindness, — in a word, 
with the love of God and man in the heart as the con- 
trolling principles of conduct, — what such a man can 
accomplish ; and inspired and encouraged by his ex- 
ample, they will be stimulated to higher and nobler 
things. 

And how cheering is the thought that the influence 
of our departed friend will not cease, even when all 
who knew him shall have ceased to live. That in- 
fluence is the inheritance of humanity, and remaineth 
with it forever ; for communicated by one individual 
to another and by one people to another, and transmit- 
ted from generation to generation, it shall be as limit- 
less as the dwelling place of the race, and as lasting as 
the duration of the soul. 

And let this our great loss be to us in one way our 
great gain. lyct us not continue to imagine, as we are 
so prone to imagine, that all men are mortal but our- 
selves. He who has gone from us, since he had a 
strong bodily constitution and robust health, seemed to 
see no sufficient reason why he might not also reach 
the age of more than four score years and ten, to which 
his mother had attained : and he casually remarked to 
a friend, who had called to sympathize with him, just 
after she died, that he expected to live himself to be 
still older than she ; — and yet, in less than twenty-four 



15 

hours, he was lying low in death. We know not in- 
deed what a day may bring forth. Whatever then our 
hand findeth to do, let us do it with our might. And 
since we have here no continuing city, let it be our 
first concern to seek for an abiding habitation in the 
place which our Great Mediator and Forerunner has 
gone to prepare for his followers ; and on the golden 
streets, and beside the crystal waters, of that New 
Jerusalem, may we again and forever hold communion 
with our dear friend and brother, who has passed on^ 
and entered in, a little before us. 



i6 



ADDRESS 



BY 



D. W. PRENTISS. A. M.. M. D. 



Ladies and Gentlemen'. 

It is a sad purpose for which we meet to-night — to 
do honor to the memory of our deceased colleague. I 
appear before you in this connection, by invitation of 
our honored President, as the representative of the 
Medical Department. 

A few weeks ago, on the first of October, we inaugu- 
rated the seventy-first session of the Medical School, 
with a fair prospect of a pleasant and prosperous win- 
ter's work. But alas our pleasurable anticipations were 
not without their shadow, the shadow cast by the death 
of dear Professor Fristoe, the oldest member of our 
Faculty. 

We missed then, as we miss to-night, his genial fa- 
miliar face. For twenty-one years he stood in his 
place, evening after evening, giving instruction to the 
successive classes of pupils, now numbered in the Ahna 
Mata of the Columbian University. For twenty-one 
years he has worked with us, and by his courteous man- 
ners, endeared himself to both professors and students. 
On that occasion, for the first time, he failed to lend 
his aid in the exercises of a public meeting ; for the 
first time he was absent from his accustomed place. 
And now we meet upon the anniversary of his natal 
day, to pay public tribute to his faithful work, and ex- 
press our sorrow in his loss. 



17 

The Destroyer, that is no respector of persons, spares 
neither rank nor talent, strikes equally rich and poor, — 
has left us but his memory. No more shall our ears 
ring with the tones of his hearty voice ; no more shall 
we feel the influence of his genial presence. Nothing 
is left to us but his good w^orks, and the echoes from 
the silent tomb. 

It is perhaps not inappropriate that it should devolve 
upon the present speaker this evening, to pay a just 
and well deserved tribute to the memory of our de- 
ceased and greatly lamented friend. I have known 
him probably longer than any other member of the 
Medical Faculty. 

Thirty-five years ago I appeared before Professor 
Fristoe at the old Columbian College on the hill, at the 
end of fourteenth street, for examination for admattance 
to the College. Well do I remember his kindly recep- 
tion of the frightened candidate on that occasion. The 
interview is still so vividly fixed in my mind, that I 
remember even the problems in geometry that he gave 
me to solve. Following, that I was under his instruc- 
tion in mathematics, in the daily routine of work at 
the College for three years, until graduation. He was 
then the same sympathetic friend, as well as a thorough 
instructor, to the students that he has always been 
since. Among the college boys he was a universal 
favorite — which is saying not a little — for professors are 
not always favorites with college boys. He treated 
the boys then, as he has invariably treated his pupils 
s\n<z^, 2,-s> young gentlemen. And I well remember how 
distasteful it was to him to be detailed to watch a class 
during written examination. In fact, he told the boys 
the}^ were too honorable to need watching. 

Since the old college days, I have known Professor 
Fristoe, almost continuously, except during the interval 



t8 

of the late war. For thirteen years we were associated 
in the Medical Faculty. Words fail me to express on 
the part of my colleagues and myself, the esteem and 
respect in which he was held. He was always punc- 
tual to his engagements both in the Lecture room and 
at Faculty meetings. He never shirked a duty, and 
how he ever found the time and strength to accom- 
plish his manifold work, is a wonder to his colleagues. 
Certainly no other one person will fill his place. He 
was Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology in the 
Medical School ; Professor of General and Analytical 
Chemistry in the Corcoran Scientific School and Dean 
of the Faculty; Professor of Physics and Natural His- 
tory in the Collegiate Department; besides doing con- 
stantly work in Analytical Chemistry, and instructing 
private classes in the labratory. As great as is his loss 
in all directions, it will be felt most keenly in the 
Columbian University. 

As to his popularity with the students, I need say 
nothing. None know better than yourselves, how af- 
fable and obliging he always was, and of all the teach- 
ers, none was held in higher esteem. A tribute to the 
character of Professor Fristoe would be incomplete, 
without reference to the esteem in which he was held 
by the lady students of the University. In him they 
felt sure of a friend and advocate. A number have 
spoken to me of his kindness, and more than one has 
said she did not see how she could return to the work 
of the chemical laboratory and not find him present. 
The professor was ever noted for his gallantry to the 
lair sex, and was among them, deservedly a favorite. 
To be chivalrous was to him second nature. That vi- 
vacity of manner which made him so pleasant a com- 
panion, also gave him the appearance of a much 
younger man than he really was. He was, in fact, the 



19 

youngest looking man of his age that I have ever 
known. His real age as it appeared in the obituary, 
was, I am sure, a surprise to most of his acquaintances. 
He himself often referred to his health and youthful 
feelings. Only two days before his death, after the 
death of his mother, he said to a friend, "My mother 
lived to be ninety-two years of age; I shall live to be 
a hundred." Within forty-eight hours he crossed the 
dark river. 

His private life was without a blemish. He was 
never known to swerve from the very highest standard 
of honor in all his professional and social relations. A 
vivacious temperament, excellent memory, and ready 
wit, combined with a generous spirit, made him socially 
one of the best of men. He was zealous where his 
convictions were involved, and impulsive by nature, 
yet his candid, kindly spirit was so well understood by 
his friends that he held fast their regard and esteem. 
Of his fidelity to friends, one of his colleagues who 
knew him best, writes me as follows: •* If a friend or 
even an acquaintance was criticized in his presence he 
would always say something favorable, if it could pos- 
sibly be said. In his hands a friend's character was al- 
ways safe. His fidelty to his friends was one of the 
most beautiful traits in a character as beautiful as man 
could possess." 

His generosity was proverbial, and for his means, 
lavish, while at the same time so modestly bestowed, 
that but few of his deeds were even suspected outside 
of those immediately benefited. In his church where 
he was a highly valued member, I am informed by one 
who knows, that he gave more money in proportion to 
his income than any other member. The quiet mod- 
esty of his charities was only equalled by that of his 
professional career, and which was characteristic of the 



20 

man, one of qniet, unobtrusive usefulness. No one 
ever heard him, even by inference, sound his own 
praises nor make a virtue of his merits. 

One of the most beautiful traits of his character was 
his devoted tenderness and affectionate care of his aged 
mother. Indeed, it was this filial love that led to the 
fatal illness. Rather than leave her to the care of 
others, he remained in the city during the hot sum- 
mer, refusing to take the much needed vacation. And 
the exposure to the sun during the intense heated spell, 
attending to the details of her funeral, brought on the 
sunstroke of which he died. 

Professor Fristoe's death was sudden, caused by sun- 
stroke. When he returned from- the burial of his 
mother, he complained of feeling badly, but thought it 
would soon pass. During the night an unusual noise 
was heard in his room, and he w^as found unconscious. 
Physicians were called, but he never rallied, dying at 
seven a. m., July 30th, the clinical thermometer record- 
ing a temperature of 111°. The news of his death 
came to his friends and associates as a stroke of light- 
ning from a clear sky, and reaching beyond the con- 
fines of his native land, across the Atlantic Ocean, it 
summoned back, our honored president from a special 
mission abroad. His place and work in the University 
was so important that his death rendered necessary 
here the presence of President Welling. 

The last time I saw Professor PVistoe w^as at the 
steamer's wharf in Baltimore, July 9th, where he had 
gone to bid farewell to a party of dear friends, sailing 
abroad, a trip which he also would have taken, but for 
his filial devotion. Alas! had he gone with us, we 
would in all probability, now not mourn his loss. 
When we each one of us shook him by the hand and 
received his cheery good wishes, little did we think we 



21 

should see him no more on earth. The manner in 
which we learned the newsof his death was almost tragic. 
On the night of August 19, at the Great Opera House 
in Paris, in the corridor, between the acts, we met 
some Washington friends. After conversing awhile, 
one of them said, "Have you heard of Professor Fris- 
toe's death ?" I denied it could be true, that there must 
be a mistake in identity. But my informant gave the 
details, until doubt was no longer possible. It seemed 
like a dreadful dream ; in a strange city, in a strange 
land, at an opera, that three of his students should have 
such new^s dropped on them like a thunderbolt. I need 
not say that w^ lost all further interest in French opera. 
The next day we sailed for home. Another of our 
Faculty first heard the news abroad, from a newspaper 
paragraph, accidently read. 

Of Professor Fristoe it can be truly said : He was 
an upright, honest man, in the loftiest sense of the term. 
He was 2. good citizen, faithful in the discharge of his 
duties to society. He was a true friend to all those who 
enjoyed the privilege of his frendship. He w^as a 
trusted, trustworthy teacher. To what greater honoi can 
man attain? I hope for myself no higher. God grant 
that to all of us it may come as well deserved as to 
Professor P'ristoe. Let us keep his memory green. 

We can assist to keep his memory green in the Col- 
umbian University. It occurs to me that it would be 
a graceful tribute if the professors and students would 
unite in placing a portrait of the Professor in the 
library room of the University. At the Great Univer- 
sity of Ueyden, in Holland, the walls of the counsellor's 
room are covered watli not less than three hundred por- 
traits in oil of deceased professors, among them that of 
the great Boerhaave. Such a collection is of great in- 
terest, stimulates ambition on the part of the students, a^d 



22 



holds out to the teachers the certainty that at least their 
memory will be honored. Let ns initiate the custom 
in the old Columbian, with the portrait of Professor 
Fristoe. 



23 



ADDRESS 

OF 

WILLIAM B. KING. ESQ. 



The Influence of Professor Fristoe as a 
Teacher. 

Those of us who attended the old college on *' the 
hill '' like to think that a certain special fragrance 
clings about the memories of our college days, un- 
known to those who have done their college work 
within these walls. We associate with the substantial 
old college building and the broad grounds, a breadth 
and freedom of action and of thought which we fondly 
fear these younger men may never know. The old 
college building has gone; every brick and stone has 
been carried away. Yet I cannot think that any of us 
pass its site without regret. 

Across the college campus was the laboratory, which 
we know no more, a little, old, rough, one story build- 
ing. There we used to go for instruction in physics, 
chemistry and higher mathematics. This was the 
undisputed kingdom where presided our instructor and 
friend, Professor Fristoe, in whose honor we are met 
to-day. 

I speak of him as our instructor and our friend be- 
cause he was both of these. 

As instructor, every student realized his mastery. 
He knew thoroughly what he taught. From his full- 
ness of knowledge and his clearness of vision, he spoke 
clearly. No earnest student was too dull to understand 
what he explained. 



24 

He was gifted, too, with that peculiar intellectual 
faculty, so important to a teacher, of insight into young 
men. He saw the characteristics of each student read- 
ily and knew his bent and purpose and was able to 
adapt his instruction to the student's need. The indi- 
viduality of each student made a distinct impression 
upon him. 

These are the two necessary qualifications of an in- 
structor, knowledge of his subject and knowledge of 
his scholars. Possessing both of these, Professor Fris- 
toe was an instructor of high rank and of marked 
ability. 

Yet I think that all of us knew Professor Fristoe not 
merely as an able instructor but as a valued friend. He 
was endeared to us by his directness of speech, by the 
simplicity of his manner and by that kindness of heart 
which was apparent in all his actions. No student 
ever had an unkindly feeling toward him. I have never 
heard a student speak unkindly of him. We all real- 
ized that he had our welfare at heart ; that every effort 
on our part to master the studies which we pursued 
with him, was more than met by an earnest desire on 
his part to aid us. No student ever went to him for 
assistance or advice, who did not feel that he w^as heart- 
ily welcome. We all felt the impress upon us, of a 
kind and generous heart, and of a determined purpose 
to do well the work which was in his hands to do. 

Every teacher has two spheres of action in which he 
makes an impression upon the young men who come 
before him. A college student learns facts from his 
instructors, of mathematics, science, Latin, Greek, and 
English. These he is consciously taught, and these he 
consciously learns. But every teacher unknowingly 
imparts what every student unknowingly receives, 
those intangible moral influences which go to the mak- 



25 

ing of character. The character of the teacher molds 
the character of the scholar. The greatest teachers, 
whose names, like that of Thomas Arnold, are remem- 
bered with reverence and tender regard by generations 
of stndents, are not those who have succeeded in crowd- 
ing into the brains of their pupils, the greatest num- 
ber of facts in the shortest space of time. 

They are those whose personal characters have made 
the greatest impression upon the young men who have 
been under rhcir iostruction.. In 'this great character- 
istic, Professor Fristoe was notable. We learned from 
him our full share of the curriculum prescribed by the 
rules of the college. But we learned more than that; 
we learned to appreciate a frank and open nature, free 
from all affectation or sliam ; we learned to value earn- 
estness in worthy labor ; we learned to know the beauty 
of a kindly heart and a generous chaiacter. Professor 
Fristoe taught us the worth of a friend. 

All of his former pupils have had occasion to recall 
his wonderful memory for those who have studied with 
him. He remembered all the bo\ s who had been in 
his care. If he met them he could still call them by 
name and I think moreover that he still preserved for 
every one a knowledge of his own individuality ac- 
quired in teaching him. 

When we gathered together last summer at the 
funeral servicee of our lamented friend, I could not 
fail to notice the many men there present, who had 
sat under his instructions during his long period of use- 
fulness here. While he remembered his students, this 
show^ed that they had not forgoiten him, and that how- 
ever much they might have forgotten the facts of 
science which he had taught them, they had remem- 
bered those moral characteristics of kindness of disposi- 
tion, of sympathy with them and of earnestness, and 



26 

that, in his death, they felt that they had lost a friend. 

The students of the Columbian College will always 
associate with Professor Fristoe, two other honored 
professors who have been his colleagues for nearly 
thirty years. From one of these we learned the cor- 
rect and forcible use of our mother tongue, and from 
the other we learned the ancient language of far off 
Greece. It has been more than twenty years since I 
first knew them, and since then I have year by year 
seen their dark hair change into that hoary covering 
which a sacred writer calls, "a crown of glory," for 
with them it has indeed been found " in the way of 
righteousness." I speak for all the students of the 
Columbian College, when I express the fervent hope 
that many more years may be spared to both of them, 
not only to instruct many succeeding classes in the 
branches of learning which they so well teach, but 
also to encourage them by the example of the high- 
est virtues of character. 

The task of a teacher of young men presents many 
discouragements. While at college, very few students 
are appreciative of the work of their teachers. They 
receive instruction at best as a task; the close of the 
lecture is the point they are looking for. However 
happy the college life, ambitious youth is longing for 
its end. On graduating, the student's thoughts are 
centered in himself. The labors of the instructors 
who have enabled him to reach this point are over- 
looked. For some years after graduation his thoughts 
are all turned towards his future, without a recollection 
of those who have spent their toil and time in pro- 
moting his welfare. 

Thus the teacher seldom has the tribute of grateful 
appreciation of his work from the student whose wel- 
fare has been the object of his daily concern. Yet there 



27 

comes a time in the life of every man, sooner or later, 
when his thoughts turn back to his college days, and 
when the labor and care of his instructors begins to be 
impressed upon his tardy mind. If I may believe the 
wisest of the world, these thoughts and these memories 
grow stronger with years and the mature mind 
more freely and more fully appreciates and consciously 
thanks the instructors of the youthful days. 

It is this due tribute of affection which we bring to 
our honored preceptor in whose name we are gathered 
here to-day. His mortal form has passed from us, but 
he still lives to all who knew him ; in our memories — 
by the instruction which we had from him ; in our 
characters — formed by his wise precept and example; 
and in our ever increasing gratitude to him for his 
earnest care and attention, then too little appreciated. 



28 



ADDRESS 



Pastor of the First Baptist Church, 



Having sustained to Dr. Fristoe the relation of pas- 
tor, I feel that it is appropriate for me on this occasion 
to speak of his religious character and life. Time will 
not allow me to enumerate all the graces that adorned 
his character, all the virtues that exhibited themselves 
in his life. 

In the short time in which it was my privilege to know 
him his character impressed itself upon me, and I was 
won to him by three things in particular that char- 
acterized him as a Christian gentleman : His intelli- 
gence, his liberality, and his cheerfulness. Dr. Fristoe 
was an intelligent Christian ; he kept himself well in- 
formed in religious matters. I never found him un- 
informed when I sought conversation with him on any 
line of religious or theological thought. His Bible was 
the man of his counsel, and he labored to understand 
its teachings. 

He gave the strength of his intellect to the Lord, 
and recognized that his scholarship was something 
which it was his privilege to bring and lay at the feet 
of his Saviour. He thought on lines which usually 
occupy the minister. He was not a minister of the 
Gospel, yet he could hold interesting and valuable 
conversation on subjects which occupy the minister. 
He had a sure grasp of the truth, and seemed to me to 
excel in his understanding of the doctrines of the 
Bible. 



29 

He was clear-cut, strong-, and positive in his de- 
nominational views, but at the same time he recog- 
nized also those doctrines which are held in common 
by the body of Christians, and for them would just 
as redily have laid down his life. He was an accept- 
able Sunday School teacher. Young men and young 
women were glad to sit at his feet and through him 
learn of the Saviour. 

I have never had any doubt of his experience 
of grace. He had an intelligent conception of Chris- 
tianity, of the mission of the Saviour, and he trusted 
himself to the Saviour with the simplicity of a little 
child. I have seen him in moments of supreme trial, 
moments Avhich would have brought desolation to the 
heart of most persons, but I have never seen his spiritual 
sky over-cast, I have never seen his faith or his hope 
eclipsed. He was of buoyant disposition, trusting the 
Lord even when he could not understand the leading 
of the Lord, trusting the Lord with child-like simpli- 
city and faith, and he always felt that although the Lord 
led him by a way which he himself knew not, it was 
never by a way which the Lord knew not. 

Dr. Fristoe was also a liberal Christian. I have al- 
luded to his liberality of scitiment; he was possessed 
of a broad soul that took in not only the people of his 
own denomination., but all the children of God with- 
out regard to denomination or name. He was delighted 
to shake the hand of a Christian man or woman ; he 
was ever ready to assist anyone in the Christian life. 

He was no respecter of persons. His attitude 
toward the high and low was the same. He regarded 
all souls as capable of salvation, as needing salvation, 
and at the same time his heart went out like the heart 
of his Saviour and impressed men and women wher- 
ever they were found, with his benovolence. His spirit 



30 

of missions, his charity seemed to have no bounds, and 
that reli'gion which lifted him up to the very throne of 
God also broadened him, spread him out, so that he 
recognized men and women everywhere as immortal 
beings, and he rejoiced in their acceptance with God, 
even when they did not unite with the people of his 
own denomination. 

He was liberal also in the use of his means. There 
are scores of people in this city who can testify to the 
benevolent disposition of this deceased professor. 
There are scores of souls that he has lifted out of 
trouble by contributions that the world never saw, never 
heard of, contributions that God saw and some 
few hearts knew of, contributions that were caught up 
by angel hands and crystalized into stars to stud 
his crown in light. He was liberal toward his own 
church. I have sometimes been amazed at his gener- 
ousity. We have never made an appeal to which he 
did not respond readily, willingly and to the extent of 
his ability. Sometimes he has placed in my hands 
money for his church which I was quite reluctant to 
take because I thought he was giving beyond the 
proper bounds, that he was giving where he ought not 
to have given, giving more than he was able to give. 
He never turned us away when we approached him 
for charity, for benevolence, for current expenses, for 
church extension, — any appeal that was made to him 
in the fear of God and in the sympathy of the Lord 
Christ was entertained by him, and so far as he was 
able, met at his hand a free and liberal response. 

It has been said also that Professor Fristoe was a 
cheerful Christian. Those who knew him marked the 
exceedingly cheerfulness of his countenance, of his 
words, of his life. It is exceedingly difficult to be con- 
stantly cheerful in this world of darkness and sorrow and 



31 

sin, yet he was one of those few who recognized that the 
key-note of the kingdom of heaven is joy. I never 
saw him when sadness was on his face. I am sure I 
never saw him in church with sadness. on his face. He 
did not believe that an elongated countenance and 
a down-cast eye were the best exhibition of the true 
spirit of Christianity. He had the upward look, and 
peace and joy were in his face. I never heard 
from him one word of murmur or complaint. 
He moved about among the members of his own church 
and among his own acquaintances and friends upon the 
principle that if we smile, others will smile with us, 
and he was continually in a cheerful mood. Not by an 
austere countenance, but by a cheerful countenance he 
commended the religion of his Saviour to his acquaint- 
ances and friends. I believe that he made peace with 
God. I believe that many of those graces and virtues 
which characterized were the direct outcome of his 
having made peace with God. He brought intellect- 
uality to the Lord. He brought scholarship to the 
Lord. He brought the social faculty to the Lord. 
In all these ways he honored his Saviour and his God- 
But after all, the supreme test is not applied to 
intellectuality to the scholarship, or to the social 
faculty of a man. Here was a man possessed of a soul, 
and in his early life he learned the true relation of that 
soul to the Lord, and he appreciated that relation all 
through his life, and we laid him' away in the hope of 
the resurrection of the just. 

May it be with us as it was with him in the time of 
departure from the world. He met it in hope, in faith 
with confidence in the Lord. He could say out of a 
soul that had loved the Lord for many years, and out 
of a life that had been consecrated to the service of 
the Lord, **I have fought a good fight, I have finished 



32 

my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is 
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. 



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